About a couple weeks ago I attended a talk for my Russian class called; Putin’s Nostalgia for the Soviet Union and it was run by Paul Josephson. It was super interesting and made me think about how similar Trump is to Putin. During the talk, Josephson kept mentioning that Putin was a charismatic leader just like many would say Trump is. He said that Putin is very infatuated with his appearance stood out to me the most. There are numerous pictures on the internet of him doing exotic things to make him appear perfect. He is pictured taming things in the wild and refers to himself as the “tiger whisperer”. I thought this was really weird and I would be amazed if a president in America ever did this. I don’t think Trump cares about his appearance as much as Putin but like Putin, Trump attracts some extremists. The youth have a cult-like love for Putin and I think we see this in some youth in America for Trump as well. Overall I enjoyed the talk and learned a lot more about Russia then I knew before.
Leave a CommentAuthor: Imani Mustaf
A couple weeks ago I went to the Institute for Contemporary Art to see their newest exhibit, Great Force. I knew the exhibit was going to be about race but I was surprised by the different perspectives the exhibit consisted of. Most art exhibits about race talk about black and brown people but this exhibit discussed whiteness a lot. It discussed the problems white people have with their whiteness and how it affects the world. At the beginning of the exhibit there was a quote from James Baldwin that said “History, as nearly no one seems to know, is not merely something to be read. And it does not refer merely, or even principally, to the past. On the contrary, the great force of history comes from the fact that we carry it within us, are unconsciously controlled by it in many ways, and history is literally present in all that we do.” from The White Man’s Guilt. Another thing that interested me was a picture that was pitch black with tiny earth on it called “rearview mirror”. It is supposed to represent the constant fear black people live in while driving and the Earth is supposed to represent the otherworldliness black people feel in America. The exhibit as a whole was super interesting and is open until January for anyone who wants to visit.
Leave a CommentTowards the beginning of the semester, I was walking through the Modlin center when I stumbled across the Annual Student Exhibition. There were a lot of beautiful things in there but one piece stood out to me the most. When I walked into the exhibit I realized that there was a video playing to my right. The first time I watched it, I watched it from the middle of the video to the end without sound. I noticed that the screen was split in the middle and it played clips from old videos on both sides. The second time I watched it, I watched it all the way through with the headphones that were attached to the tv. The headphones played the audio that went with the various different clips. Before the video started it said that it was following a boy and a girl comparing what young kids are taught about sex depending on their gender. I found it very interesting and watch this eight-minute video about four different times because I could not tell who was who. I wasn’t sure which side of the screen was supposed to be a boy and which was supposed to be a girl and I wonder if that was because I did not understand or if that was the point.
Leave a CommentI never learned much about the Vietnam war or its protests before this video. I thought the video was interesting and it taught me a lot of things. I knew that, like everything else, race played a role in it but I wasn’t sure how. I did not know that black people had a higher chance of being killed during the war compared to white people. I also completely understood their reasoning for not wanting to be drafted. Why would you fight for a country that sees you as inferior to others? It made me think of Muhammed Ali who openly spoke against the draft as well. the draft is unfair and appeals to the rich so I understand why people protested. I wish I would’ve learned more about it in school and I wonder why I didn’t.
1 CommentI have always been skeptical about the Women’s rights movement because I knew that as a black woman, the movement did not necessarily fight for me. Women’s rights typically meant white women’s rights back then because all women were not the same, race made a difference. Fighting for the Vote video touches on this a little by discussing slavery and civil rights. Women in the video expressed that they were extremely motivated to gain voting rights after free black men were giving voting rights. Not because men were given voting rights but especially because black men were because white women felt superior to them. This part of the video made me question the entire movement. It’s great that women were able to come together and fight for their right to vote but its also kind of a slap in the face to black women. These women did not always put race aside when they were fighting but many of them still felt superior to black people. The racist white woman narrative is rarely told but should be. In school, I was taught that the Women’s rights movement was for all women but would rather have learned the truth about the situation.
4 CommentsRobert Kelly’s article “In Praise of Followers” describes the different types of followers there are while highlighting the importance of the follower itself. This whole semester I’ve been wondering if we were ever going to touch on the role of the followers so I’m glad we finally did but I am surprised by what was said. I understand that there are different types of followers and that effective followers are the best but I wonder why effective followers wouldn’t just become leaders. The qualities of being an effective leader correspond with the qualities of being a good leader so why not just lead? The article even says “Self-confident followers see colleagues as allies and leaders as equals.” so if they see themselves as equals does that mean that they think of themselves as leaders? I also wonder if you got a group of people who were effective followers and had them do something without a leader, would they still perform effectively? Do they need a leader?
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This story/podcast may be the most interesting podcast we’ve listened to. I knew about the massacre but I had no clue about the leader behind it. It’s amazing to see how power can change someone so much. Jim Jones began as an amazing activist who did great things for people but slowly started to turn mad. Many people have attested to his kindness and charisma so it’s interesting how a person can seem one way but turn out to be completely different.
I also find it interesting how he claimed to God. It made me think of divine right and how previous kings in England had this same belief. History has shown us that when people claim to be God they tend to do tyrant like things because they believe that they are either god or God personally told them to. I wonder why people continue to follow leaders who make similar claims even though history proves that we shouldn’t. We are supposed to learn from the past so I wonder what keeps compelling people to make the same decisions. Maybe it is the charisma that people like Jim Jones have or is it that people want something to believe in that they can see?
7 CommentsI agree with the idea that the best leaders start off as servants first. It is much easier to follow someone who you can relate too or to follow someone who you think you could become one day. it gives you motivation and can make your relationship with the leader better. I also agree that servant-leaders are more likely to understand humility, unlike non-servant leaders who worry about their personal goals more than the common good. I also find Greenleaf’s use of the prophet interesting. It makes me think of religious times. I think Jesus would be a perfect example of a servant leader. Jesus began as a carpenter which is a humble job before he became a leader. Jesus understood what it was like to be a servant and often helped others who were at the bottom. Greenleaf uses Leo as another example of this but I think Jesus is just as good of an example.
3 CommentsMachiavelli writes The Prince with the intention of teaching how to rule and his work is known and respected worldwide. He talks a lot about the manipulation of fear in a prince’s favor. He argues that fear can be used to maintain power and is not necessarily a bad thing. He also argues that you do not have to be loved as long as you are not hated. I think this is interesting because all of the other works we read and discuss in class only seem to talk about being liked. We spent a lot of time talking about charisma and how important it was that a great leader had charismatic qualities that include being likable. So I think it’s interesting that Machiavelli does not put that much emphasis on that like the other authors.
I also think it’s interesting how Machiavelli argues that in order for a new prince that is taking over a free state or a prince that comes to power through violence should destroy not wound. I completely agree with him on this issue even though it may seem cruel or harsh. People who once knew freedom will not take kindly to being ruled by a prince so it is important that you destroy their sense of freedom so that they do not rebel. The same goes for a prince who has seized power through violence. they must destroy all of the people who were in power before to prevent rebellions as well.
4 CommentsWithin the first 15 minutes of the movie Richard III, I was already interested and confused. I thought it was interesting, just as Bezio said, that Shakespeare chose to focus on Richard and how clear he portrayed his evil tendencies. I also found how heartless and Richard’s inconsideration for others bazar. I could not believe that he would visit the wife of the man he just murdered and ask for her heart so soon. We talked about charisma in class and it was interesting to see how Richard used his charisma to try to win over this woman even while she was in grief.
Bezio compares Richard III to Donald Trump by explaining how toxic charisma affected us 400 years ago and continues to affect us today. Bezio provides numerous examples to show how these two people correlate. I remember talking about this in class as well and someone asked if we could consider Donald Trump a Tyrant but we came to the conclusion that he had tendencies but was not an actual tyrant. However, we also said a tyrant is a toxic charismatic and Bezio argues that Trump is one too, so can we consider him a Tyrant under those terms?
5 CommentsGrowing up, I was taught that Martin Luther King Jr. was the most important leader of the civil rights era. We often focused on his actions and were taught that he was confident in what he did. We never learned about his self-doubts so I find it interesting that Carson decided to go into detail about those. According to Carson, King often doubted himself and feared for his life, as well as others. He wasn’t the person he is portrayed to be and that makes me wonder why we as a society create a false persona of him
I also found Carson’s understanding of the word charisma and how it pertains to MLK, very interesting. King understood that his charisma alone would not help him gain the number of followers that he wanted and he often risked his popularity. There is no doubt that he was charismatic but it was not always enough. I find it interesting that King used religion as his top tactic despite the backlash he would receive
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